Karel Geybels would have celebrated his 100th birthday on 22 June. He was founder of Geybels & Sons, from which Group-GTS emerged: from a potato farmer with one truck to a logistics player with 700 trucks and 360,000 m2 of logistics space. “It’s a story of getting stronger despite setbacks,” says current CEO Ben Geybels, the third generation to head the company.
“You learn nothing from successes, you learn from defeats,” Ben Geybels begins his story. “It’s how you deal with setbacks that will ultimately determine how successful you are.” It is a life lesson Ben Geybels learned from his grandfather, Karel Geybels. He would have celebrated his 100th birthday on 22 June 2024.
Grandson and current CEO of Group-GTS Ben Geybels seizes this moment to take a moment to reflect on the life of a man who, despite his simplicity, made a big impact. A farmer’s son who had learned to work in the fields between Eindhout and Veerle, Karel Geybels started a trade in coal and potatoes with his wife Maria Van Genechten in the 1950s. The couple had two children: Vital and Jef. Despite a serious illness, he single-handedly built a small warehouse and bought a truck to deliver his goods to people.
“My grandfather Karel was a people’s man and an entrepreneur at heart,” says Ben Geybels. “He became severely ill and had to continue with one lung, but despite that setback he kept fighting. His story is one of perseverance and love of business.”
Passing on the torch
Eldest son Vital helped in the business from the age of 14, and after he got his driving licence during his army service, the fleet of vehicles was expanded. Unfortunately, fate struck again and Maria died suddenly at the age of 49. Karel managed to keep the business going for a few more years, but eventually had to quit due to back problems. He passed the torch to his sons, who each found their own path: Vital continued in the transport business and Jef in the potato trade.
Vital Geybels founded transport Geybels Transport Service (GTS) in 1983. He expanded the company further and by the end of the 1990s some eighty trucks were already driving for GTS. Son Ben Geybels was also destined to enter the business. “I was not a phenomenon at school,” laughs Ben Geybels, “and so I started working straight after school.”
That was in the family business. “In 2001 I started as a mechanic and successively I did several jobs, as a clerk and in the dispatching department. My father said ‘I throw him in the pond, either he learns to swim or he goes under’. I deserved that tough treatment too, and I’m glad I went through that because it made me resilient.”
Leergeld
“At a very young age, I then got to do a small takeover and reorganisation, and I did pay a lot of learning money forthat, ” Ben Geybels says. “I had to struggle through a lot of difficult moments, but that period shaped me. I had to learn to become a good manager.”
“In 2019, we invested heavily in structure and appointed a management team. Thanks to them, I was able to evolve from manager to entrepreneur and am more concerned with giving direction, setting the strategy and seeing opportunities. If you surround yourself with people who believe in you and can give you confidence yourself, then you really make it a team with a top sporting culture.”
700 trucks
Meanwhile, Group-GTS is a bundling of several firms and 700 trucks take to the road every day. The structure is divided into five business units: Containers, Conventional, Logistics (360,000 m2 greenfield and brownfield), Pharma & Food and Solutions & Sustainability (data and project management).
“As a mid-sized company, we can offer a very wide range of solutions, but we still want to keep the SME mentality in it: speed and quality. We don’t want to be the biggest either, but we aim to be the best possible partner in Europe in transport and logistics. I am also very proud of the fact that we have very little staff turnover. Our people have to work hard, but we take very good care of them. They get training through our GTS Academy and we make sure they can develop. We also want to be very accessible as a company: if there is something, we look at it together and solve it together.”
The wind from behind
Finally, Ben Geybels shares a very personal story. “When my grandfather was on his deathbed in 2005, I thanked him for everything. He then replied very humbly: ‘it was my duty to take good care of you and give you opportunities’. On going out, he still said ‘salut and the wind from behind’, which is Kempish for ‘good luck boy’.”
The entrepreneurial spirit and perseverance were passed on to the children and grandchildren. “Entrepreneurship and seeing opportunities has been in our blood for three generations,” says Ben Geybels. “Strengthened by a mentality of sound farm sense, hard work, courage and respect for our roots. Rest assured there will be setbacks one day, but roll up your sleeves and solve it.”
Just as Karel Geybels lived in simplicity to give opportunities to the next generations, Ben Geybels also wants to be able to pass on his business even better. “I myself want to make our company even better every day to be able to pass it on to the next generation. This way, we build the future with respect for the past and who knows, maybe this will continue in the fourth generation.”
